Sara Sweat, MA – Founder & CEO, Mindshift Advisors
For far too many businesses, culture is a static set of values that live on the website. Inspiring words, maybe even a sleek poster on the office wall. But day to day? Forgotten.
Founders know better. The real struggle isn’t establishing culture. It’s getting everyone aligned on how to operate within it.
If you’re having a hard time getting your people rowing in the same direction, chances are one of these three gaps is at play:
What you say you value ≠ what you actually value
Let’s be honest—there’s often a gap between the values written down and the behaviors that actually get rewarded.
If you say you value innovation but your culture punishes failure, you’ll never see true innovation. Failure isn’t the opposite of innovation—it’s the raw material. Without it, all you have is caution and incrementalism.
Alignment starts with truth-telling. Own the gap between stated and lived values, then decide what you’re really willing to stand behind.
Your processes don’t match your priorities
Culture isn’t just language—it’s systems.
If you say you’re client-centric but don’t have processes that measure, ingest, and pivot based on client feedback, you’re undermining your own priorities.
Values without process are just slogans. Processes without values are just bureaucracy. Put them together, and you get alignment.
Your values aren’t celebrated—or enforced
How do people know when they’re living a value well?
Do you recognize it? Reward it? Share the story? When someone consistently misses the mark – are leaders empowered to address it quickly and autonomously?
Culture isn’t neutral. When you don’t celebrate and enforce values, you teach your team that they don’t matter.
You can do it!
Culture isn’t the words you hang on the wall. It’s the habits, processes, and stories that guide your people every day.
If what you say you value, how you build your processes, and how you reinforce behavior don’t line up—you don’t have culture. You have chaos.
Save yourself the extra work and invest up front in doing this thoughtfully, honestly, and well.
Because Founders who get this right don’t just build companies. They build movements – and have a whole lot of fun doing it.
What to make your company culture operational? We’ve got you. Book a free clarity call to learn more about how.
